The invention relates to electronic media delivery, and more particularly, to interactive delivery of electronic media over a network to a group of users.
Advances in communications technology have enabled many new applications for delivery of electronic media over computer networks, such as the Internet. Because of this ability, people have increasingly turned to on-line sources for their various media requirements. The Internet has thus become a major source for providing users with music, in part replacing conventional radios and other means for receiving music entertainment. In the field of online music delivery, the two traditional methods for delivering music are radio-style “broadcasts” and single file requests.
Online, radio-style broadcasts deliver media in a continuous or streaming fashion to multiple clients, which are typically personal computers owned by users. Streaming media technology enables the real time delivery of audio, video, and multimedia over the Internet. With streamed media, a user does not have to wait until a download to their computer is complete before seeing the video or hearing the sound. Instead, the media files are sent in a continuous stream and are played by the client computer system as sufficient data is received and stored in the client's buffer for playing the media file. After being played, the streamed media file is not stored on the client, so the media will not take up space on the client's storage device. In a radio-style broadcast, a media service provider delivers a particular sequence of media files that has been compiled into a playlist before transmission of those files. To ensure compliance with the law and quality control, the playlists can be designed using a set of restrictive criteria. These restrictive criteria help to define the media that is broadcast. Media files are then broadcast according to this playlist, and users can “tune” into or out of the broadcast using either standard or proprietary software.
Sometimes, a broadcasting entity broadcasts specific programs of media over multiple “channels.” With their client computers, users can tune into any of these channels to receive the corresponding media broadcast. Often, these channels are organized by genre of media, such as type of music in the case of audio delivery. Again, applying different restrictive criteria to the playlists that correspond to each channel helps to maintain a qualitative difference between the media content on the channels.
Traditional streaming media broadcasts allow users to tune into particular channels of interest, but they have not provided the ability to dynamically modify the playlist on the fly in response to requests from the users, nor have they offered the ability to apply restrictive criteria to those requests. As a result, users are limited to receiving selections in the playlist and cannot send requests to the server to broadcast other songs, videos, or other media items.
For single file requests, individual users request and retrieve single media files in isolation. Several files can be obtained by multiple file, or batch, requests. Services that allow users to download single files on demand can provide means for searching for desired media files on a database maintained by the service. Whether using single file or batch requests, these types of media file retrieval systems are typically not subject to restrictive criteria that limit delivery of the media. These media files are typically not played until fully downloaded, and seamless play is not provided. Moreover, receiving media via single file requests is time intensive, requiring each user to interactively select media files and facilitate the downloads. This method is therefore undesirable for users that simply wish to tune into a broadcast.
A significant barrier to entry for business to provide media delivery of copyrighted works is acquiring licenses or other rights to distribute the media. In the case of music delivery, acquiring licenses or rights for every piece of music for distribution could be a daunting task. In recognition of this burden, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which allows service providers to obtain a statutory license as long as fewer than a substantial portion of the programming consists of songs delivered within an hour of the request or at a time specified by the broadcaster. With a statutory license, a media service would be free to broadcast any commercially available recordings without negotiating individual licenses with the content owners, as long as the service complied with the DMCA. It would therefore be advantageous to provide a media delivery service that allowed for passive and active reception by an audience, while complying with the provisions of the DMCA to enable a service provider to obtain a statutory license.